These Days
by Ferryboatsandrambling
Summary: Insight into all the Meredith/Derek/Zola/unborn baby time we don't get to see on Grey's. Hope you like it!


**Hi everybody! This is my first story and I really hope you like it. Please please tell me how I can improve. I am hoping for this to be a series of chapters that add on the few seconds of Merderola we get on Grey's.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing**

**xoxo**

Derek stooped down to gently pick a napping Zola up from daycare. It had been a long day to say the least and all he wanted was his little girl.

Zola nestled her head into his shoulder and made herself comfortable with one hand lightly gripping his shirt and the other used for sucking her thumb. She opened her eyes long enough to give her father a tired smile and then, her mouth stretching into a an 'o' as she yawned, closed her eyes again.

Derek rubbed Zola's back in comforting circles as they rode the elevator down and then walked to the car. Meredith had gone home earlier, exhausted from being on-call the entire night before and seven-and-a-half months pregnant so Derek had promised to bring Zola home, something they typically did together. He hadn't meant for his surgery to run so long so that it would be this late by the time they were heading home but some things were out of their control. While Meredith and Derek could love their little girl more than anything, they had no control over how many brain bleeds and emergency appendectomies came into the OR per day. It was a hard part of doing the two jobs they loved, being parents and surgeons.

Derek buckled Zola into her carseat and planted a kiss on her forehead, murmuring an "I love you" as he adjusted her favorite blanket on top of her. Despite being exhausted after a long surgery, this was more than worth it for Derek.

After softly closing Zola's car door as not to wake her, Derek got behind the wheel and they were off. The silence didn't bother Derek because it gave him time to think about his life and just how thankful he was for his family, friends, and career.

By the time they had reached the ferry, Zola was stirring, rubbing her eyes and kicking her feet against the carseat.

"Zo wub ferry." Zola informed her father as she squirmed to get out of the carseat and go look around.

"Hold on, Zozo. Let Daddy come help you get out of your carseat."Derek responded, getting out of the front seat and going to open Zola's door to unbuckle her. He unfastened the harness of her carseat and lifted her out.

They stood at the railing looking into the water and out to Seattle, reminding Derek of how he had grown on this ferry from a lying but in-love ex-New Yorker to a boyfriend to now, his favorite roles of all, husband and father. Seeing everything new and exciting through Zola's young and open eyes made Derek more aware of the many wonderful things in his life.

At last pulling into the driveway of their house in the woods, Zola announced "Dada we home."

This house had started from an idea he wanted to share with Meredith followed with the grand gesture of all grand gestures of a house of candles that showed that Meredith had accepted the undeniable forces drawing her to Derek to house plans including a master bedroom tub that was big enough to cover "your knees and boobs at the same time." Now, Zola's tricycle sat in the front yard, a playground was out back. Zola's and Derek's fishing rods and her ladybug rainboots dwarfed by Derek's tall green boots were laid out next to the front steps (Meredith had declared them all too dirty to enter the house.). It was their home. Their life together was tied up in this house with their daughter and soon-to-arrive son.

Derek got Zola out of the car and then let her run ahead of him, all about being independent these days. She ran up the steps and jiggled the door knob but it wouldn't open.

"Hold on, Zozo. Let Daddy unlock the door." Derek turned the key in the lock and gave Zola the go-ahead to push the door open. She did so with a triumphant, Daddy-look-what-I-can-do grin on her face and stepped inside, Derek following after.

Meredith was sitting on the couch reading an old neurosurgery journal, wearing one of Derek's oversized Bowdoin t-shirts, the outline of her belly clearly visible, and a pair of pajama pants. Her face broke into a grin when she saw her two favorite people in the world enter the room. Pressing a hand on the small of her back, she slowly stood up, a task that was getting more and more challenging as mini-Derek grew ready to grace the world with his presence.

Zola smiled widely at her mother and ran to hug her. Meredith bent down as best she could to kiss her little girl and then picked Zola up, adjusting her on her hip so her little brother wasn't in the way. Derek cupped Meredith's face gently as he kissed her softly.

"Going home isn't as much fun without Mommy, is it, Zo?" Derek asked the girl happily snuggled in her mother's arms.

Zola nodded but reached a hand out to touch Derek's face. "Zo still wub Dada do."

"Hey Zozo, how about some macaroni and cheese with green beans for dinner?" Meredith inquired as she and Derek moved into the kitchen where she set Zola down in her booster at the counter.

Zola nodded, clapping her hands and kicking her legs against the seat. "Mmm, gween beans!"

"God, she is so your child." Meredith said, shaking her head while smiling at Derek.

Derek tousled Zola's hair and kissed the top of her head. "I sure hope so!"

Meredith and Derek had some leftover salad and pasta from earlier that week while watching Zola manage to wear more macaroni and cheese than got into her mouth.

When the dishes were washed and Zola was rubbing her eyes, a clear sign it was somebody's bedtime, Derek asked Zola if she wanted to take a bath in the big tub in Mommy and Daddy's room. After a vigorous 'yes' from Zola and a complaining-filled quick teeth brushing session with the little girl, Meredith and Derek took their toddler to their bathroom. Meredith removed Zola's clothes with the precision only a surgeon like herself could have especially with a baby, avoiding any tears. Derek set the naked baby in the tub where he had carefully made sure the water was just the right temperature. Lots of giggles and soapy bubbles later, Zola was clean and exhausted. Meredith had gone to lie down and Derek scooped Zola out of the tub, wrapping her in a fluffy, warm towel and holding her close.

After giving Meredith a good night kiss, Derek carried Zola to her room where he put on her favorite doctor pajamas (covered in stethoscopes and reflex testers). He laid her down in her crib and gently set a blanket on top of her. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he quietly turned out the light, hearing Zola whisper a "lub you Dada" that made him smile to himself. "Love you, Zo. Sleep tight."

Derek closed the door carefully and then padded into their room. Meredith was lying on her side, her hands gripping her stomach and rubbing circles on it. "Derek, he won't stop kicking." Meredith said helplessly.

"Hold on, Mer." Derek said as he pulled on some pajama pants and a plain t-shirt. He climbed into bed next to the love of his life and wrapped his arms around her and laid one hand on her stomach.

"Once upon a time, there were two grown-ups who were about I start new jobs the next day. They were not looking for their respective prince or princess that night but some magic happened..."

"I love you, Derek." Meredith murmured, letting his story lull both her and their child inside her to sleep.

Derek smiled as he heard her already start to snore and the baby's kicks slow down. "I love you too."


End file.
